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Biological soil crusts modulate nitrogen availability in semi-arid ecosystems: insights from a Mediterranean grassland

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Abstract

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) greatly influence the N cycle of semi-arid ecosystems, as some organisms forming them are able to fix atmospheric N. However, BSCs are not always taken into account when studying biotic controls on N cycling and transformations. Our main objective was to understand how BSCs modulate the availability of N in a semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystem dominated by the tussock grass Stipa tenacissima. We selected the six most frequent soil cover types in the study area: S. tenacissima tussocks (ST), Retama sphaerocarpa shrubs (RS), and open areas with very low (BS), low (LC) medium (MC) and high (HC) cover of well developed and lichen-dominated BSCs. The temporal dynamics of available N dynamics followed changes in soil moisture. Available NH +4 -N did not differ between microsites, while available NO -3 -N was substantially higher in the RS than in any other microsite. No significant differences in the amount of available NO -3 -N were found between ST and BS microsites, but these microsites had more NO -3 -N than those dominated by BSCs (LC, MC and HC). Our results suggest that BSCs may be inhibiting nitrification, and highlight the importance of this biotic community as a modulator of the availability of N in semi-arid ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Santiago Soliveres, Pablo García-Palacios, Patricia Alonso, Alexandra Rodriguez, Jorge Duran, Ignacio Conde, Yohanna Cabrera, Claudia Barraza, Cristina Escolar and Eduardo Barahona for their help in laboratory and field work, and Isabel Martínez for her help with the identification of lichens and mosses. We thank the Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA) for allowing us working in the Aranjuez Experimental Station (Finca de Sotomayor). APC was supported by a PhD fellowship from the INTERCAMBIO (BIOCON06/105) project, funded by the Fundación BBVA. FTM was supported by a Ramon y Cajal contract from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (co-funded by the European Social Fund). This research was funded by the British Ecological Society (ECPG 231/607), the INTERCAMBIO project and the MICINN (grant CGL2008-00986-E/BOS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, 28933, Spain

    Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy & Fernando T. Maestre

  2. Departamento Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera de Utrera km. 1, Sevilla, 41013, Spain

    Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo & Antonio Gallardo

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  1. Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy
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  2. Fernando T. Maestre
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  3. Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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  4. Antonio Gallardo
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Correspondence to Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy.

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Responsible Editor: Elizabeth M. Baggs.

Appendices

Appendix A

Table 2 Checklist and frequency (in %) of lichen and mosses in the different microsites sampled
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Appendix B

Fig. 4 View of the different microsites sampled. A = Stipa tenacissima tussocks; B = Retama sphaerocarpa shrubs; C = Bare Soil; D = low biological soil crust (BSC) cover; E = medium BSC cover; and F = high BSC cover

Appendix C

Fig. 5 Changes in soil moisture (upper graph) and temperature (middle graph) in different microsites, and precipitation (bottom graph) registered in the study area between January 2007 and December 2008. Soil moisture represents values obtained at 0-5 cm depth; soil temperature is obtained at 2 cm depth. ST = Stipa tenacissima tussocks; RS = Retama sphaerocarpa shrubs; BS = Bare soil; LC = low biological soil crust (BSC) cover; MC = medium BSC cover; and HC = high BSC cover. Data represent means ± SE for soil temperature (n = 12). Data for soil moisture represent the average value of three sensors per microsite (the SE of these measures is omitted for clarity)

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Castillo-Monroy, A.P., Maestre, F.T., Delgado-Baquerizo, M. et al. Biological soil crusts modulate nitrogen availability in semi-arid ecosystems: insights from a Mediterranean grassland. Plant Soil 333, 21–34 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-0276-7

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